Advice needed please, re. marital home

angelinamay

tacticalbanjo, I have absolutely NO DOUBT husband WILL leave the marital house to the grandchildren, who he dotes on, so not worried on that front.  To be honest, I'm leaning more towards adding my partner to the deeds of the small house, to ensure he has a roof over his head, should I die first. 

RAS

Regardless of what you think your husband will do, you need to talk to a solicitor about the situation because what you think your husband wants and what are legally going to happen are not the same.

Let's start with your husband needing care? As joint tenant who does not live with a dependent person aged over 60 (spouse or child), the house may be needed to fund his care. Splitting the tenancy could ring-fence 50% of the value.

Your husband dies intestate (without a will)? You inherit the survivor's portion. And you die intestate? So the the house goes to your child(ren) not the grandchildren. Should their parent's split up and then remarry, the grandchildren may get nothing.

If you die, he remarries and then dies intestate, the new wife gets much or all of the house.

A lot can happen in the next 20 years and with a legal situation that doesn't match the personal situation, there's a lot of scenarios where the grandchildren get nothing.

Go to a good STEP solicitor with details of your current situation and details of what you want to happen and they can advise you of any pitfalls and whether you can achieve what you think will happen.

angelinamay

Ras, good morning,  This has been an eye opener, thanks for the clear points you've highlighted, :-) 

74jax

angelinamay said:

unforeseen said:

If you haven't made a will leaving it to your partner then intestacy rules kick in and it will go to your husband, or children if he pre-deceases you. 

Thank you for your reply.  I have made a will, and stipulated the property my husband is living (Marital property) is left to the 2 grandchildren.  The small property I live in, I've stipulated partner has the right to live in that property but  if in agreement, the property is sold and the proceeds split 3 ways between 2 sons and partner. 

The not in bold doesn't make sense? I thought you owned this property jointly - so it automatically passes to your husband. You can't 'leave' it to anyone. Did a solicitor draw up this will? 

74jax

angelinamay said:

tacticalbanjo, I have absolutely NO DOUBT husband WILL leave the marital house to the grandchildren, who he dotes on, so not worried on that front.  To be honest, I'm leaning more towards adding my partner to the deeds of the small house, to ensure he has a roof over his head, should I die first. 

What if, he remarries and dies the day after the wedding?...... Unlikely but....

You can only control what YOU want with your share. Sadly you can't 'rely' on others, especially if something is really important to you. 

steampowered

unforeseen said:

If you haven't made a will leaving it to your partner then intestacy rules kick in and it will go to your husband, or children if he pre-deceases you. 

This is not quite right

Even if the Op has made a will leaving the property to the children, the property will still go 100% to her husband when she dies.

This is because the property is held as "joint tenancy", not as a "tenancy in common". In a joint tenancy, if one joint tenant does, the survivor gets everything automatically without needing to go via the will.

If the Op wishes to let someone other than her husband inherit a "share" of the property, she needs to "sever" the joint tenancy - it is possible to make a filing with the land registry to do this.

Mojisola

angelinamay said:

I seem to recall reading/hearing something about a 'seven year rule', IF living away from a joint owned (or tenants in common?) property that the person still living in the property has the right to own it outright?

There is no such rule.  If you owned a property with someone else and didn't live in it for 50 years, you would still retain the same ownership rights.

I agree with the others - split the ownership of the house your husband is living in so that it's owned as tenants in common.  You can then leave your share to your grandchildren but give your husband the right to continue living there for as long as he wants.  If he survives you but ends up needing care, your grandchildren will still receive their inheritance from you and he will have his half to fund care.

I would be wary of adding his name to your property.  It can be dealt with in the will in the same way - giving him the right to live there but making sure the grandchildren inherit.

If you need to go into residential care, the property may have to be sold to fund that.

angelinamay

74jax said:

angelinamay said:

unforeseen said:

If you haven't made a will leaving it to your partner then intestacy rules kick in and it will go to your husband, or children if he pre-deceases you. 

Thank you for your reply.  I have made a will, and stipulated the property my husband is living (Marital property) is left to the 2 grandchildren.  The small property I live in, I've stipulated partner has the right to live in that property but  if in agreement, the property is sold and the proceeds split 3 ways between 2 sons and partner. 

The not in bold doesn't make sense? I thought you owned this property jointly - so it automatically passes to your husband. You can't 'leave' it to anyone. Did a solicitor draw up this will? 

Don't understand not in bold?  The MARITAL house is jointly owned, the small house is owned by me, 100%, Will writing service not Solicitors.

angelinamay

74jax said:

angelinamay said:

tacticalbanjo, I have absolutely NO DOUBT husband WILL leave the marital house to the grandchildren, who he dotes on, so not worried on that front.  To be honest, I'm leaning more towards adding my partner to the deeds of the small house, to ensure he has a roof over his head, should I die first. 

What if, he remarries and dies the day after the wedding?...... Unlikely but....

You can only control what YOU want with your share. Sadly you can't 'rely' on others, especially if something is really important to you. 

'Tis true, but believe me - I really DO know husband, and I DO know he will not remarry.  His first love is. . . GOLF!!

angelinamay

steampowered said:

unforeseen said:

If you haven't made a will leaving it to your partner then intestacy rules kick in and it will go to your husband, or children if he pre-deceases you. 

This is not quite right

Even if the Op has made a will leaving the property to the children, the property will still go 100% to her husband when she dies.

This is because the property is held as "joint tenancy", not as a "tenancy in common". In a joint tenancy, if one joint tenant does, the survivor gets everything automatically without needing to go via the will.

If the Op wishes to let someone other than her husband inherit a "share" of the property, she needs to "sever" the joint tenancy - it is possible to make a filing with the land registry to do this.

Which is how I understand it.  It's only the MARITAL home we jointly own, the small house I own outright,